


Escaping

by The_Raptor_Queen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: AU after GOF, F/F, F/M, Female M mentioned not seen, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Good Dudley Dursley, Harry Potter Leaves the Wizarding World, Helpful Rita Skeeter, Hermione Granger Bashing, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Molly Weasley Bashing, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, OKish Marge Dursley, OKishVernon Dursley, Okish Petunia Dursley, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Remus Lupin dies in OotP instead, Ron Weasley Bashing, Sirius Black Lives, Smart Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-02 05:36:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Raptor_Queen/pseuds/The_Raptor_Queen
Summary: After Harry defeats Voldemort he returns to Hogwarts while simultaneously completing work for Muggle subjects. Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Molly keep attempting to force Harry to be with her and so, he's had enough. Taking the decision to leave the Wizarding World, Harry makes a new life for himself.AU after Christmas of OotP (i.e. Sirius Black lives and Remus dies) and set during and post Skyfall.Losely inspired by It Might Be Magic (link inside)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It Might Be Magic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2120121) by [ProfessorFrankly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorFrankly/pseuds/ProfessorFrankly). 



**_Escaping_ **

_ I don’t own Harry Potter, nor do I own James Bond, all I own is this plot… _

* * *

 

**** **_Prologue_ **

“No Ginny! I’m not going to go out with you again just because it’s what you and your mum wants! I don’t even like girls! I thought I’d made that clear when we broke up!” Harry sighed as he stepped away from Ginny. Ever since the final death of Voldemort a year earlier, the redhead had been trying to get back together with Harry. It was at the point now, that not only was she begging and pleading with him to marry her, but Molly was also trying to push Harry towards her daughter. Unfortunately it had soured Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione, both of whom felt that Harry was just being stubborn. They seemed to think that he and Ginny should have married shortly after Voldemort died, like the two of them had done. Out of the trio, Harry was the only one who had opted to finish his education at Hogwarts (although he was also doing correspondence courses in Muggle subjects too). Hermione had accepted a job at the Ministry working on the reclassification of Magical Creatures while Ron played Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons, like had always been his dream. When they found out that Harry was returning to Hogwarts, they originally assumed that it was to be closer to Ginny but when it became apparent that he had no interest in resuming his relationship with her, they too began to nag him.

“But Harry! It’s meant to be! You saved me in my first year, like some handsome prince!” Ginny wailed, drawing attention to them in Gringotts’ foyer.

“I’m afraid, Ginny, that the reason I went down there wasn’t to rescue you, it was to make sure that the school didn’t close.” Harry sighed, hoping that she would leave him alone. Ginny just wailed harder and clung to his arm like a limpet. Eventually two Security Goblins had to prise her off so that Harry could attend his meeting with his account manager. It had taken months for Harry to be able to go into the bank without being watched, and even then, it was his formal apology rather than monetary restitution which had improved his relationship with the Goblins (although Ron wanted to believe otherwise, he and Hermione were still closely watched and weren’t even allowed to go down to the vaults). He had only come to Diagon Alley today to visit the bank to forward his plans. He’d finally grown sick of all the crap he put up with in the Wizarding World and so planned to leave for the Muggle world. He planned to transfer his entire fortune to Muggle banks as well as sorting out a few things for when he left. 

* * *

 

Once his business at the bank was completed, he next went to the Ministry of Magic, avoiding Hermione as she stormed in to demand that Kingsley give her another job. Once the reclassification was completed, she was made redundant and as she had declined to return to Hogwarts (even though she was told that she could do the job from there) she was unable to get another Ministry job. She had naively believed that once she was working for the Ministry, it would be permanent. Percy, Kingsley’s under secretary, agreed to hide Harry when she left Kingsley’s office. That had been one of the surprises, the older Weasley children supported Harry’s decision to not be with Ginny and, as a consequence, he was much closer to them than he had been previously. Eventually Kingsley kicked Hermione out of his office.

“Hermione, I told you when you got offered that job that it was only temporary and that you would be best off returning to Hogwarts as well. Nothing you say now can change my mind.” Kingsley sighed as he got her to leave.

“Well! If I tell Harry that you’re discriminating against me because I’m a Muggleborn then he’ll have you out of office in a week! You’d better give me a job or else!” Hermione screeched angrily. Harry saw red and stepped out of his hiding place.

“Really Hermione? Because it doesn’t sound like Kingsley is discriminating against you at all, he’s making a valid point. Even I told you that you’d need to return to Hogwarts to get a permanent Ministry job, but because you were once called ‘the Brightest Witch of our Age’ you think that you know best. Stop making threats and actually work for what you want! As it is, I’m tempted to contact Rita Skeeter and let her know what you’ve been up to.” Harry growled angrily, his green eyes flashing behind his glasses.

“She won’t touch me, she knows that I’ve got too much dirt on her!” Hermione snarled at her once-friend.

“What? That she was an unregistered Animagus? Hate to break it to you, but she’s registered now, and she voluntarily paid the fine for not registering in the first place. You’ve got nothing on her now.” Harry smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. Hermione turned red with fury before storming out.

“Thanks Harry, we’re going to have to do something about her quickly. Kingsley sighed.

“I’m on it Minister. I can contact the Daily Prophet using my floo and ask them to send Skeeter over now if you both wish.” Percy piped up.

“That might be a good idea, I can solve two problems at once then.” Harry mused.

It was barely even five minutes before Rita Skeeter was sat in Kingsley’s office with Harry, Kingsley and Percy.

“What can I do for you gentlemen, Mr Weasley here told me that it was a huge scoop.” Rita simpered. They explained Hermione’s actions to Rita who looked positively gleeful at the story.

“There’s also another matter Rita, one which I can guarantee is something which will go quite nicely with that story.” Harry said after she’d finished taking notes of the facts.

“And what is that Mr Potter?” She asked curiously.

“As you might know, there’s been a falling out between myself, and Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Molly Weasley. This is over the fact that I refuse to date Ginny.” Harry started to explain before Rita stopped him.

“And can I ask why? The readers will want to know.” She smiled

“It’s very simple, I’m gay. But they don’t want to know that, they just insist that I’m just ‘confused’ and should marry her anyway. I’m afraid that it’s gotten to the point that I’m leaving the Wizarding world.” Harry explained, running a hand through his hair. Rita was shocked for a minute.

“I’m surprised at your decision, but I understand completely. You sacrificed so much for the Wizarding World, maybe it’s time that we do something for you.” Rita nodded.

* * *

**** The Dursley family of number four Privet Drive were considered completely normal and Petunia and Vernon very much liked it that way. While they had complained at having to leave their home for protection from, what they viewed, as a freakish madman, they had been glad of the opportunity to get rid of their nephew. So when he suddenly turned up at their door, nearly two years after they’d last seen him, they were less than pleased. Marge, who was visiting, was also less than pleased.

“What are you doing here, boy!” Vernon snarled as Petunia led Harry into the living room with a displeased air about her.

“I’m merely passing through Uncle, I’ve got a few things for you and I thought that it would be more polite for me to give them to you in person.” Harry replied, completely unphased by his uncle’s attitude. Eventually Vernon’s greed won out over his irritation.

To say that Vernon and Petunia were surprised by the gifts that Harry had for them would be an understatement.

“How did you afford to buy us a brand new car  **_and_ ** put that amount of money in our account boy?” Vernon said, looking suspicious.

“Well uncle, it turns out that while my parents were, in your words, ‘drunken wastrels’, my grandparents weren’t. I inherited their fortune when I was five apparently, they had no idea that I’d survived or they would have gladly taken me in. If they had been told, maybe I wouldn’t have been a burden on you for all these years.” Harry replied before turning to Marge. “ I was going to ask Uncle Vernon to pass this on to you, but I might as well give this to you now.” He added, handing her a small box. Inside were two things, one was the key to a new Land Rover and the other was a card with a name and an address for a dog breeder.

“What?” Marge asked, slightly confused.

“I heard from Dudley that Ripper passed away two years ago, I know that while no dog can replace him, maybe it’s time you had a new companion. The breeder is an old friend of my grandparents and she breeds the most beautiful Boxers and is known to match a person to their perfect dog through some sort of instinct.” Harry explained softly, while he had always hated Ripper and wasn’t all that fond of Marge, he had known that he couldn’t try to mend bridges with his relatives without including her.

Dudley’s relationship with Harry hadn’t needed as much mending as the others’, the two cousins had been corresponding for a year. Of course, Harry had still gotten his cousin a few things. Out of politeness, and gratitude for the gifts, Petunia invited Harry to stay for dinner.

“So what are your plans now boy...Harry?” Marge asked as they all sat down to dinner.

“I’ve actually got a job with an IT firm in London.” Harry replied with a smile, Marge was finally warming up to him.

“With any of the...crowd...you got involved with at school?” Vernon asked suspiciously.

“Not at all, I’ve cut them out of my life completely. One of them, a young girl is determined to get me to marry her, I think she found out about my grandparents’ money, and the rest of that...group...want me to go along with it. In any case, as far as they’re aware, I’m living on the continent now. I changed my name two days ago with deed poll, so ‘Harry Potter’ no longer exists. They won’t bother any of you, they believe that I haven’t had any contact with any of you for years.” Harry sighed seriously.

“Sleep with the tart, did you?” Vernon asked while Marge looked suspicious.

“Definitely not! She looks too much like photos of my mother for me to be remotely attracted to her! No, she’s just nuts.” Harry spluttered slightly at the very idea of sleeping with Ginny.

Things were a lot more civil after that, especially when Vernon and Petunia took Harry aside and found out that he genuinely  **_had_ ** found work in the non-magical world. It was Dudley though who guessed that Harry didn’t have a simple office job at an IT company.

“Who are you really going to work for Harry?” Dudley asked, concern flooding him for his cousin.

“I’m sorry Dud, but I can’t tell you. I wish I could but I’m just not allowed. It’s very strict. But there’s no danger to your family.” Harry sighed, hoping that Dudley would drop it.

“Harry, you  **_are_ ** family! If you can’t tell me then at least promise to ring regularly!” Dudley said, exasperation clear in his voice.

“I promise Dud.” Harry smiled.

* * *

As Harry left number 4 Privet Drive, a small smile crept onto his face. Maybe escaping his old life entirely wasn’t necessary after all...


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bond and the new Q meet, from Q's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Harry Potter, nor do I own James Bond, all I own is this plot…  
> There are some sections of dialogue here which is taken directly from one of the Bond films, you’ll know which film when you see them!  
> Also, Dr. Monroe is an OC but won't really come into this very much.

_ He was running for his life, faces of people he used to know surrounded him, jeering and laughing at his terror as he fled from the man who had been trying to kill him for years, only this time he knew that death would actually come. His mother appeared in front of him, her brilliant eyes full of disdain. _

_ “Your father and I sacrificed ourselves for you, and for what? So that you could abandon everyone who cared for you? I’m ashamed that you’re my son.” She sneered. A noise behind him caused him to turn. All he saw was a wand tip glowing green and heard “Avada Kedavra!” in a high-pitched voice before everything went black… _

Quentin Evans jerked awake, his heart pounding and his breath ragged. The nightmare, while unsettling was fairly common when changes occurred in his life. True, the latest change was one of the biggest, his boss had died, leaving him in his place.

“Sir?” A timid voice asked from beside him and Quentin reached for his glasses. It was just a nurse from Medical.

“I’m fine, just a nightmare.” He smiled tightly, it was really only to ensure that he had no lasting damage that he was even in Medical in the first place. He should be allowed to leave soon, he hoped anyway, he had a ton of work to do!

“I’ll get Dr. Monroe.” The girl said quietly and rushed off as Quentin stretched. The brusque female doctor ran through a few things with him but she was satisfied that he was alright and allowed him to leave.

As he thought, as soon as Quentin entered Q-branch, there was a ton for him to do. Luckily, he was able to get out of the office for a few hours to meet someone at the National Gallery. As he walked towards  _ The Fighting Temeraire _ , he saw a tall, well-built blonde man sat in front of it. He’d been briefed on what the man he was meeting looked like, but he never expected him to look so rough. Pushing aside his feelings of concern, Quentin sat near the man. and engaged him in conversation.

“It always makes me feel a bit melancholy. Grand old war ship, being ignominiously haunted away to scrap… The inevitability of time, don’t you think? What do you see?” Quentin said, smiling wistfully as he thought of the image and feelings the painting gave him.

“A bloody big ship. Excuse me.” The man said, making to stand up.

“007.” Quentin said, causing the man to look at him in surprise. “I’m your new Quartermaster.” He continued, enjoying, just a tiny bit, the shock on Bond’s handsome face.

“You must be joking.” Bond said bluntly, irritating Quentin with his attitude.

“Why, because I’m not wearing a lab coat?” He bit back a more rude response in favour of a much more bland one.

“Because you still have spots.” Bond said, just as bluntly as before.

“My complexion is hardly relevant.” Quentin, or Q as he realised he should call himself, said.

“Your competence is.” Bond replied.

“Age is no guarantee of efficiency.” Q pointed out (and it still felt odd to think of himself as ‘Q’).

“And youth is no guarantee of innovation.” Bond smirked a little and Q realised that the double-oh was not only flirting with him a little bit, but also enjoying the banter.

“Well, I’ll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pyjamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field.” Q retorted.

“Oh, so why do you need me?” Bond replied, ‘ _ Definitely flirting _ ’ Q thought to himself.

“Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled.” Q was also beginning to enjoy their banter.

Or not pulled. It’s hard to know which in your pyjamas. Q.” Bond stretched out his hand for Q to shake as he said the last part.

“007.” Q replied with a smile. Once they’d each let the other’s hand go, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope which he gave to Bond.

“Ticket to Shanghai, documentation and passport.” He was back to professionalism now that the enjoyable banter was over.

“Thank you.” Bond said quietly.

“And this.” Q pulled out a black box which he also handed to Bond. When the agent opened it it revealed a gun and a small square space for an object. “Walther PPK/S nine-millimeter short, there’s a micro sensor in the grip. It’s been coded to your palm print, so only you can fire it. Less of a random killing machine, more of a personal statement.” He explained, feeling pleased with that bit of tech, it had been something that he personally had worked on before his promotion.

“And this?” Bond pointed at the empty space before Q handed over a tiny square.

“Standard issue radio transmitter. Activate it and it broadcasts your location, distress signal. And that’s it.” Q explained as Bond examined the radio.

“A gun, and a radio. Not exactly Christmas, is it?” Bond said sarcastically.

“Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don’t really go in for that anymore.” Q smirked at Bond as he stood to leave. Starting to walk away, something made him pause and turn back to Bond.

“Good luck out there in the field. And please return the equipment in one piece.” Q turned back after saying his last piece and started to leave, although he could still hear Bond’s next remark.

“Brave new world.” The older man sighed.

* * *

**** Q didn’t have time to dwell on Bond anymore as sorting out his department took up most of his time for the next few days. He did have to brief Eve Moneypenny to fly out to Shanghai to help Bond. He should have gone himself, but he and planes just didn’t mix very well, to the point that he was almost terrified of getting on one.

Bond returned the radio when he brought Silva’s laptop but not the Walther which disappointed and annoyed Q at the waste of money and effort. But he pushed those feelings aside to focus on this latest puzzle.

“Now, looking at Silva’s computer, it seems to me, he’s done a number of slightly unusual things. He’s established fail-safe protocols to wipe the memory if there’s any attempt to access certain files. Only about six people in the world could programme safeguards like that.” Q was partially talking to himself but also partially talking to Bond, he still felt like he had to prove himself to the agent.

“Of course there are. Can you get past them?” Bond asked.

“I invented them. Right then.” Q replied, as he placed some USB cables into Silva’s computer. “Let’s see what you’ve got for us, Mr. Silva. We’re in.” Q couldn’t help the triumphant feeling at the impressed look on Bond’s face. One of his ‘minions’ (Q still had no idea why they wanted to call themselves that but he just went with it) came up to him.

“Sir, what do you make of this?” The man asked, directing Q’s attention to a large screen.

“This is omega site. Best encrypted level he has. Looks like obfuscated code to conceal its true purpose. Security through obscurity.” Qu said as he worked his way through the encryptions. There was silence for a few while as he carried on working, but the programme kept changing, forcing Q to voice his frustration.

“He’s using a polymorphic engine to maintain the code. Whenever I try to gain access, it changes. It’s like solving a Rubik’s cube that’s fighting back.” He continued, desperately trying to get a grasp on the code. Bond approached the screen.

“Stop. Go in on that.” Bond said, pointing at the lines of code to the side. Groups of letters lined up as Q zoomed the focus in on them.

“Granborough. Granborough Road. It’s an old tube station on the Metropolitan line, been closed for years. Use that as the key.” Bond said, after musing for a few moments. Using that as a base for the algorithm, Q was very quickly able to work his way into the system. The tangled mess on the screen slowly unfurled into a rather detailed map which they all looked at for a few seconds.

“It’s London. Subterranean London.” Bond said suddenly as the realisation of what they were looking at sunk in. Suddenly, glass panels in the floor flipped open.

“What’s going on? Why are the doors open?” Q asked angrily, he didn’t like surprises. Suddenly Bond dashes from the room, pelting along at top speed and Q turned to look at the screen where the words ‘Security Breach’ were flashing.

“Oh, no! Can someone tell me how the hell he go into our system?” Q said furiously as his ‘minions’ were rushing around panicking. Turning his attention back to the screen, he saw a red skull pop up with a message underneath. ‘ _ NOT SUCH A CLEVER BOY _ ’ it read and realisation dawned on Q.

“Oh, shit!” He said as he yanked the cables out of the computer. “Shit, shit, shit! He hacked us.” He continued, desperately trying to stop the process.

“ _ Q, he’s gone. _ ” Bond’s voice came through Q’s computer system and Q rushed to it to see what he could do to help Bond. A few moments later he spoke again.

“ _ I’m on a stairwell below isolation. Do you read me, Q? _ ” Bond said.

“I can hear you. I’m looking for you. Got you. Tracking your location. Just keep moving forward. Enter the next service door on your right. If you’re through that door, you should be in the tube.” Q kept himself calm and professional even though his mind was racing, just like it did when he was younger during one of his ‘adventures’.

“ _ I’m in the tube. _ ” Bond said.

“Bond, this isn’t an escape, this was years in the planning. He wanted us to capture him, he wanted us to access his computer. It was all planned. Blowing up HQ, all the emergency protocols, knowing we’d retrieve down here.” Q explained what he’d realised to the agent, hoping it would help.

“ _ I got all that. It’s what he’s got planned next that worries me. _ ” Bond’s voice was almost sardonic. All the while, Q was typing on his computer, trying to figure out what their next move should be.

“District line is the closest. There should be a service door on your left.” Q said to Bond as his tracker showed that he was nearing the door.

“ _ Got it. _ ” The dot representing Bond stopped at the door.

“ _ It won’t open. _ ” Bond grunted with the effort, the almost primal sound doing strange things to Q’s insides.

“Of course it will. Put your back into it.” Q said almost flippantly to disguise what he was feeling.

“ _ Why don’t you come down here and put your back into it? _ ” Bond didn’t sound impressed although Q could tell that he was pushing at the door again.

“ _ No, it’s stuck. _ ” Bond said, pausing.

“ _ Oh, good. There’s a train coming. _ ” Bond was sarcastic but his words almost caused panic to flood Q’s being.

“Hmm. That’s vexing.” Q said, desperately trying to hack into the train’s system to stop it. A gunshot rang through the earpiece and there was a rushing sound as the train rushed passed.

‘Shit! I’ve just killed James Bond!’ Q thought before realising that had the train hit the agent, the earpiece would have been destroyed.

“ _ I’m through. _ ” Bond said, causing relief to flood through Q.

“Told you. We’ve alerted security, police are on their way.” Q was trying to be nonchalant but he guessed that Bond could tell that he was a bit shaken. Nothing was said as Bond rushed into the tube station.

“Where are you now?” Q asked, concentrating on the CCTV images as he looked for Silva.

“ _ Temple tube station, along with half of London. _ ” Bond replied as Q spotted him on the monitors.

“Oh, I see. Here you are.” Q said, pleased that he knew where the agent was.

“ _ I know where I am, Q. Where is he? _ ” Bond sighed.

“Just a second, I’m looking for him.” Q’s eyes frantically searched the images on the screen for Silva.

“ _ There’s too many people, I can’t see him. _ ” Bond said, drawing a small amount of Q’s attention to him.

“Welcome to rush hour on the tube. Not something you’d know much about.” Q replied snarkily as he carried on searching.

“ _ Train’s leaving. Do I get on the train? _ ” Bond asked.

“Don’t get on the train unless he’s on it. Give us a minute.” Q replied.

“ _ Do I get on the train? _ ” Bond asked again, frustration bleeding through into his voice. Q finally spotted Silva, now dressed as a policeman, getting onto the train.

“Bond?” Q said.

“ _ What? _ ” Bond was clearly a bit irritated.

“Get on the train.” Q said, as he got rid of the CCTV from the station.

“Where are you?” Q asked, not able to properly see Bond.

“ _ Take a wild guess, Q. _ ” Bond replied and Q internally sighed, the agent was definitely annoyed with him.

“He’s in disguise now, he’s dressed as a policeman.” Q said, keeping an eye on the tracker’s movement.

“ _ Of course he is. _ ” Bond sighed, and Q sympathised. Silva had just made things that much more difficult for them.

“Where is he going? Where is he going?” Q spoke almost half to himself, unsure about where Silva was headed.

“ _ He’s going for M. Tell Tanner, get her out of there. _ ” Bond said suddenly.

“Shit!” Q said as he quickly wrote a message to Tanner explaining the situation and asking him to get M to safety. Q tried again when it was apparent that they weren’t leaving.

* * *

Q was desperately trying to stem the panic of his ‘minions’ and everyone else in the building, especially after Tanner called in to say that M’s car with her in it had been driven off by an unknown driver. Q was just starting to track the car’s location when Bond called in.

“ _ Q, I need help. _ ” The agent said, making Q sigh mentally at the thought of yet more work to do. But he quickly realised that Bond was the one who had M.

“I’m tracking the car, where are you going?” Q asked, still following the trail.

“ _ I’ve got M. We’re about to disappear. _ ” Bond said, confirming Q’s thoughts.

“What?” Q asked as he realised what the last thing Bond had said was.

“ _ I need you to lay a trail of breadcrumbs impossible to follow  for anyone except Silva. Think you can do it? _ ” Bond said as he wound his way through the London streets.

“I’m guessing this isn’t strictly official.” Q said, pulling up the necessary program to do it.

“ _ Not even remotely. _ ” Bond replied, seemingly amused.

“So much for my promising career in espionage.” Q sighed as he got to work, pausing to take a sip of Earl Grey tea from his ‘Q’ Scrabble mug that the ‘minions’ kept filled. Not even Tanner’s arrival distracted him, although he did explain what he was doing at the other’s question.

“It’s a fine line. If the breadcrumb’s too small, then he might miss it. Too big, and Silva will smell a rat.” Q explained as he added more ‘breadcrumbs’.

“Yes, but you think even Silva would be able to spot that?” Tanner said, watching as each point appeared.

“He’s the only one who could.” Q replied. Tanner turned and his face fell.

“Sir.” He said softly, causing Q to turn around.

“Oh.” Q said, dread settling in his gut when he saw Gareth Mallory walking up to them, his left arm in a sling.

“What are you doing?” Mallory asked. Q had known that Mallory was monitoring MI6 at that time, making him the last person that Q wanted to see.

“We’re just...monitoring.” Q replied, nervously.

“Creating a false tracking signal for Silva to follow.” Mallory said, seeing what they were doing immediately.

“Well, sir, um…” Tanner clearly wasn’t sure about what to say.

“Well, no…” Q was trying to think of an excuse or explanation which would allow him to keep his job. But it was Mallory’s next words which surprised Q.

“Excellent thinking, get him isolated. Send him on the A9, it’s a direct route, you can monitor his progress more accurately and confirm it with the traffic cameras.” Mallory nodded.

“But, uh...what if the PM finds out?” Q asked, knowing that Mallory had originally been working with Cameron.

“Then we’re all buggered. Carry on.” Mallory replied before turning to leave, and Q and Tanner returning to creating the signal.

* * *

Hearing what had happened to M, the old one, caused Q a moment of sadness, she’d been the only one at MI6 who’d known about his past. She’d even allowed him to bury his name change to keep himself safer when he’d become ‘Q’. Her funeral was a sombre occasion, many at MI6 were fond of her and wanted to pay their last respects to her. Even Bond was there, although he made sure to hide at the back. From what Q had heard, the double-oh felt that M’s death was his fault. No one at MI6 blamed the agent, they all knew that the real person to blame for M’s death was Silva, and that Bond had killed the madman.

It was another week before Q saw Bond in Q-branch. Mallory, the new M, had had the double-oh cleared for active duty and was sending him on a mission to retrieve anything else he could from Battleship Island. Bond had found a few hidden servers and the disk which they’d spent so long searching for. After being cleared by Medical, Bond personally brought them down to Q-Branch.

“I never thanked you.” Bond said quietly as Q began examining the servers.

“What?” The genius asked, surprised.

“For helping with Silva. You could have lost your job doing what you did.” Bond clarified.

“Yes, well, it was the right thing to do.” Q replied, embarrassed at the attention.

“Still, thank you. I don’t suppose you’d accept dinner or coffee as a thank you gesture?” Bond smiles and Q can easily see why so many women have fallen into bed with him.

“You make it sound like you want to take me on a date.” Q said, faintly amused but also a little regretful that he wouldn’t be the focus of such a thing.

“And if I did?” Bond asked quietly, making sure that Q was the only one who heard him. Q looked at him in surprise.

“Are you being serious? After all, it  _ has _ been noted that you tend to have a type which is quite different to me.” Q asked, hoping almost against hope.

“They were for something casual, nothing more. You’re right that I have a type for when I want something real but you’re wrong that you don’t fit it. Being a bit flexible about my partners’ gender certainly helps with my job but I’ve had relationships with men before.” Bond replied with a slight smile, he was clearly enjoying Q’s confusion.

“Forgive me, Bond, if I have trouble believing that.” Q said, still not sure of himself.

“Just one date, that’s all I ask. Then, if it’s obvious that we wouldn’t work then we can stick with friends.” Bond was turning on the charm, making it hard for Q to concentrate.

“What’s the harm in it Q? Just one date?” Bond said softly, stepping closer to the Quartermaster.

“Just one date.” Q confirmed, finally conceding.

“You won’t regret it Q.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bond and Q have their first date

_ I don’t own Harry Potter, nor do I own James Bond, all I own is this plot… _

* * *

 

Q was already starting to regret agreeing to the date with Bond. He was wearing his best suit but he still felt out of place in the restaurant that Bond had chosen. It was a nice place, and Q couldn’t help but feel that everyone in the place was eyeing his messy curls with an air of disdain. Even growing his hair out a bit wouldn’t tame the bird’s nest fully.

‘ _ Of course I have to get here before Bond. I swear, if he stands me up he’ll be going on his next mission with sellotape and a thumb tack! _ ’ Q thought, pushing his glasses back up his nose. Bond was spared this fate, dreaded by every double-oh agent, by his arrival a few moments later with a charming smile. If possible, the agent looked even more handsome in his well-fitted suit this evening than in any of the previous suits that Q had seen him in. Had Q not been sat down, his knees would have buckled at the surge of desire that filled him.

“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long Q, M wanted to give some sort of shovel talk.” Bond smiled, his expression charming.

“Not too long Bond, I’ve only really had time to sit down. That and notice that most of the people in here seem unimpressed by my appearance.” Q replied, pushing down the desire. 

“Ignore them, if they can’t appreciate beauty then that’s their loss.” Bond said as he sat opposite Q, loudly enough that that the rudest people flushed in embarrassment at being caught.

* * *

 

**__**

To Q’s surprise, Bond proved to be very attentive towards him. Sure, there was still some part of him that was sure the agent was still trying to get that blasted exploding pen he wanted.

“Why the devil do you need to know whether I have any brothers or sisters Bond?” He asked in an exasperated tone as their appetizers arrived.

“James, please. And I don’t  _ need _ to know but I’d like to, I’d like to know more about you and asking you seems to be the most pleasant way of asking.” Bond, James, replied before taking a bite of his Escargots de Champignons. Q didn’t know how to process that, to give himself more time, he concentrated on his own food. He’d never had Coquilles Saint-Jacques before, normally seafood made him feel sick as most places made it too fishy but this was nice.

James was patient, Q had to give him that. In the end he was the one to break the silence.

“I don’t. Have any siblings, I mean. My parents were killed when I was very small so I was raised by relatives. One of my school friends is the next best thing to a sister though.” He said, almost babbling in his nervousness. He felt James take his hand and, when he looked into the other man’s face, he saw understanding and compassion there.

“I’m sure your parents would be glad to know that you’ve got such a good friend.” He said softly and Q smiles at the sincere tone.

The conversation flows naturally after that, covering everything from music to literature, films and television to animals. Q hardly notices when the waiters exchange their empty plates for the next course (Steak Diane for James and Duck a l’Orange for him) as they talk. They exchange tastes of each other’s food, Q finally relaxing and accepting that maybe, just maybe, James wasn’t after him for anything.

By the time dessert rolled around, Q was privately willing to admit that, had he not promised himself that nothing would happen, he would almost have been in danger of falling into bed with James that night. He’d known how smooth James was, anyone who’d been his handler for a honeypot mission could hardly miss that fact.

Q knew that he was making almost obscene noises at the raspberry chocolate torte but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the shocked looks he would no doubt be receiving from some of the more stuffy observers, especially as Bond was giving him looks that were both amused and lustful at once. Plus, he was having fun scandalising some of the more prudish observers.

“Good?” James asked after a few moments and Q opened his eyes.

“Very.” The brunette smiled in reply. James laughed, a deep, rich sound that sent fresh shivers up Q’s spine.

“Well, now I know what to give you if I ever do anything stupid which, let’s face it, might end up happening at some point.” He grinned. The expression made his face seem years younger, his blue eyes alight and sparkling. Q’d hated blue eyes for years, a certain meddling headmaster had seen to that, but James’ were nothing like his. Where the headmaster’s eyes held closely guarded secrets from him, James’ were open to Q. If he wanted (and had the skill) Q could probably use legilimency to see what was in James’ mind, but he viewed such a thing with distaste after the whole Snape debacle.

“You know, I’ve just realised that I don’t know your actual name.” James said casually as he drove them once away once the bill had been paid. Q stiffened.

“You don’t have the clearance for that.” He said sharply. James spared him a glance as the road was clear.

“I know Q, and I’d rather you stay ‘Q’ as it protects you.” James said softly.

Things were slightly awkward after that for a few moments, but soon, they relaxed and were chatting about inconsequential things, mainly 002’s mission to Zambia.

It didn’t take long for James to pull up outside a very familiar building.

“How did you know where my flat is James?” Q asked, looking over at the agent. James smirked.

“I had to promise to be the perfect gentleman, and to not attempt to seduce you tonight, but I knew the right person to ask.” He winked at Q.

“But who...oh, for goodness sake! Moneypenny?” The dark haired boffin asked and James’ smirk grew wider.

“I can neither confirm nor deny my source. You should head in Q, it’s late and knowing you, you’ll be at work early tomorrow. How about we have lunch and I’ll let you know who it was.” James said, his face turning from seductive to sweetly caring, not something that Q would usually associate with the infamous 007.

With a nod and a slight huff, Q got out the car and began to make his way to the door but, before he’d gotten more than a few steps, a gentle hand came down on his shoulder as James said “Q.” He turned, not sure what the insufferably handsome man wanted. As he turned, James’ other hand cradled his chin and he felt lips press against his own.

The kiss was utter perfection, neither too soft, nor too hard, and Q’s eyelids fluttered closed of their own volition. James was at the perfect height for him, Q didn’t have to lean up or down to let him deepen the kiss, had he not used magic to reverse the damage from his early childhood then it might have been different but he was actually at the right height. Had he been in some sort of romance film or novel there would have been sparks or fireworks going off in the background. As it was, there were both sparks  _ and _ fireworks in his mind as a sense of right filled his very being. He’d felt his magic simmering under the surface for years, since before he left the Magical world, but now it was like an overflowing river pushing against a dam. It wanted to be free, and it was pushing him to drag James to his bed and let him have his way with him.

The kiss ended too soon for both of them and James looked regretful as he stepped back.

“Go to bed Q, before I try to take things further tonight.” He said softly. Somewhere in the background, a bell tower chimed midnight.

“Technically it’s tomorrow now.” Q pointed out. James smiled at him.

“Bed, Q. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, mandatory downtime, remember? I’ll meet you in Q branch for lunch tomorrow.” He said and Q sighed.

“Best make it 1, I’ve got a budget meeting at 11:30 and those things tend to run over a bit.” Q nodded, internally pouting at being sent to bed like an errant child.

James grinned and nodded, opening his car door and waiting, clearly he wanted to see Q get into the building before he left. Q sighed again and made his way to the building entrance, swiping his key fob to open the security door. He turned and waved at James before shutting the door and making his way to the lift. While waiting for it to come down, Q heard James’ car roar as he drove back to his own home.

The sound of Q’s phone ringing pulled his attention back to the present and out of his daydreams about what could have happened. Recognising the caller ID, he accepted the call and put it up to his ear, just as the lift arrived.

“Hey Dud, what’s up?”

* * *

 

 

Things had been going from bad to worse for Hermione, Ron, Molly and Ginny since Harry had left. In the six years he’d been gone, things had changed drastically for them. Molly was no longer the respected matriarch of a Light family, she was still the matriarch but she was no longer respected. She could barely go food shopping without being looked down on by somebody for her insistence that Harry’s sexuality could be cured by her daughter. Ginny, who’d had dreams about playing for the Holyhead Harpies before her wedding to Harry, was turned away from tryouts for every Quidditch team. Ron had the same problem, even his beloved Chudley Cannons wouldn’t let the pair try out. They’d tried to sue them (at Hermione’s suggestion) only to be told that there were several reasons they’d been turned away. 1) witnesses from their times at Hogwarts had given testimony about their skills (or lack thereof), 2) there was a morals clause that both had failed before even joining the teams due to being arrested for harassment, and 3) both had had an attitude problem. Needless to say, they’d lost their case. Ron had had to take a job clearing plates and glasses at the Three Broomsticks.

Hermione and Ron had married a few months after Harry had left. When Hermione was unable to get any job but one in a shop or restaurant, she’d taken Molly’s advice and agreed to stay at home instead. When she’d fallen pregnant with their first child, Rose, the pair had built a small home on a piece of the Burrow’s land as their flat was too small for a growing family. Ginny had, at least, completed her final year at Hogwarts so was able to get a job at the Ministry but because of her grades, it was a low position.

Currently, Hermione and Ginny were sat in the Burrow’s kitchen, a pot of tea steaming between them and cups in their hands.

“Any news of Harry?” Molly asked the two girls, the three of them had been desperately searching for the missing Boy-Who-Lived.

“He’s not been seen in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade in six years Molly, Ron and I check near daily in the two areas.” Hermione sighed, her face grumpy.

“The Trace on his wand hasn’t gone off either Mum. Maybe he bought a new one before he left.” Ginny sighed, her expression dreamy as she thought about Harry.

“The Trace wouldn’t show on his wand anyway Ginny, he’s of age. The only way we could track him by magic use would be if he use one of the Unforgivables.” Hermione sniffed, stirring her tea. A scream from the next room drew the attention of the three women. Hermione stood and hurried through.

“Rose!” She called as she went.

Ginny went back to her daydreaming.

“Harry would like a Summer wedding, wouldn’t he mum?” She asked, her eyes unfocused as she continuously stirred her tea.

“Of course he would dear.” Molly smiled at her dreamy daughter before turning to check on the cake she was baking for the small family celebration for Ron and Hermione’s new child.

“And I could wear his mother’s wedding dress. With my hair up and pink oriental lilies in it.” Ginny continued, her voice drifting and seeming further away from the present. The cake was done so she pulled it out and left it to cool for a while. Hermione returned then and took her place once more.

“Rose is fine, she saw a spider. I swear, if Ron tells her anymore stories from Hogwarts, he’s sleeping on the sofa.” Hermione sighed, taking a sip of her now cold tea with a grimace.

“Poor dear, hopefully Hugo will be fine with them or you’d have a whole houseful to rescue.” Molly smiled at her daughter-in-law as she joined them again.

The Weasley clock chimed and all three whirled to glance at the secret fidelius-held hand for Harry. It was still pointed at ‘away’, it had only moved twice, both times showing him in ‘mortal peril’, first about two weeks ago when it had stayed there for a few hours and then a few days ago when it had only been ten minutes. Arthur’s hand had been the one that moved, showing him to be ‘home’.

“Evening dear!” Molly called out as he came it. He didn’t call back, nor did he smile as he usually did.

“Molly, can I have a word? Outside maybe?” He said, leaving his cloak and briefcase by the door.

“Of course darling; Hermione, Ginny, could you two keep an eye on dinner for me?” Molly asked the two younger women. Ginny was still in her own little world but Hermione voiced her acquiescence.

Arthur was silent as they walked away from the house and further into the garden. It was only as they reached the edge of the orchard that he stopped and turned to Molly.

“I heard something interesting at work today Molly. Simmons told me that Ginny has been seen going into the Wand Registry office daily since she started her job. She’s told people that  _ you _ asked her to check on Harry. Is this true Molly?” He asked, fury blazing in his eyes.

“If, and I mean if, I did, it would only be out of motherly concern.” Molly’s mind was racing on how to get Arthur off her case.

“Don’t lie to me, or try to deflect Molly. Did you ask Ginny to look for Harry?” Arthur’s face darkened even more.

“Yes.” She whispered, she’d never seen him this angry.

“You need to leave him alone Molly. He left this world because of the actions of you, Ronald, Hermione and Ginny. He doesn’t  _ want _ you to find him. I may not have heard from him in those six years, but I view him as another son and I  _ will _ protect him when needed. Do you understand me?” Arthur said gravely. Molly nodded, not trusting her voice. She couldn’t stop looking for Harry, she  _ needed _ him to marry Ginny. If he was her son-in-law, she’d be famous and finally rich. Ginny, Ron and Hermione all needed him back too.

“I’m not home for dinner tonight remember, I’m going out with the rest of my department tonight.” Arthur said as they entered the house again.

“Of course Arthur, have fun.” Molly said lightly, shaking her head to silence Hermione’s question.

Ron came in as Arthur was heading back out, the pair nodding to each other. He collapsed in a chair next to Hermione who was breastfeeding Hugo.

“Dinner will be in 5 minutes.” Molly smiled at him.

Once they’d all eaten, and Hugo had been changed and out down for his nap, Molly started their conference.

“Ginny, you need to stop going down to the Wand Registry office, your father found out and has told me to stop looking for him.” Molly said seriously and all three sat up suddenly.

“Surely you don’t mean that Molly! We  _ have _ to find him, we need him to help us.” Hermione said in alarm.

“Don’t worry dear, it’s only Ginny who needs to stop looking. You and Ron still can, he can’t stop you visiting Ron at work, or going to Diagon Alley.” Molly reassured the girl. “We’re just going to have to be careful, Arthur will be watching, and George is likely to help him.” She continued.

“Don’t worry Mum, he can’t watch us all the time. Eventually he’ll have to let his guard down and then we can get back to finding Potter.” Ron yawned.

“Harry will come back to me and we’ll get married and live happily ever after with our ten children.” Ginny smiled and Ron sneered at her.  Molly glared at her son, knowing that his harsh words could upset her daughter.

“Of course he will darling.” She said, mentally wondering why her youngest two children were such idiots. At least her daughter-in-law had the brains to make their schemes work.

* * *

 

George paused just inside the door to his workroom. Ronald and Hermione didn’t often come into the shop, Hermione hated all types of pranks and couldn’t see past that to realise that there was more to the products on sale here than just pranking. And Ronald, well he hadn’t set foot through the doors since George had turned down his demand to be made a partner in the business. Ronald had argued that splitting it into three so he could take a portion wouldn’t affect profits that much. After Fred’s death, George had given his shares to Lee Jordan, their old school friend, as per his twin’s wishes. Only Lee, Sirius and himself knew that Harry also had shares in the company, and that was because Sirius had also invested. That had annoyed Ron more than anything else, that Sirius had become a partner but Ron hadn’t. Currently, George and Lee each held 35 % of shares each while Harry and Sirius each had 15%. There was simply no room for Ron.

But it wasn’t a wish to have shares in the business that the two were whispering about, not realising that George had so many detection charms and wards on his door, that he could tell who was outside and what they were saying as they approached.

“Ron, do we  _ have _ to be here?” Hermione was asking, her tone disapproving. Clearly she was trying to channel Minerva McGonagall and failing. One of George’s inventions, a Dictoquill, worked similarly to a Quick Quotes Quill but took things down verbatim and had allowed students with severe vision problems to attend Hogwarts. He was actually working on something to help deaf prospective students at the moment.

“Look Mione, Sirius is involved with this place but he won’t even  _ see _ us, let alone tell us anything he knows about Harry. Mum said we need to step up our game to find him. If Sirius knows anything, he’s likely to have mentioned it to George.” Ronald whispered back and George mentally sighed, his dad had warned him that his mum might try to get information, but sending Ron and Hermione to him was surprising.

He waited for the knock at his door to get up and open it. They’d brought their children too, of  _ course _ they had.

“Hello George, you going to invite us in?” Hermione asked sweetly.

“Hermione, why don’t I take you guys up to the flat? My workroom’s got some sensitive projects in there, not the best place for kids, you know?” He said. Hermione looked irritated and George knew that she’d wanted to see what he was working on to try and ‘improve’ it. She’d tried already with the Dictoquills but there wasn’t anything she could really improve on, especially as the patents for the charms were in his name. She’d actually been hit with a cease and desist order from the Ministry.

Once they were settled upstairs in his flat, Rose with a glass of juice and the grown ups with tea (there were cookies for all though), George waited for them to broach the topic of Harry. He didn’t have too long to wait.

“So, business is doing well then? I suppose Sirius has something to do with that.” Hermione said, pursing her lips. George had to stop himself from laughing, she’d almost exactly mimicked Petunia Dursley when she was faced with anything magic related.

“Padfoot’s helped yes but some of our new products have really helped too.” George internally smirked, it was a low blow but he couldn’t resist rubbing Hermione’s nose in his innovation.

“See much of him mate?” Ronald asked, interrupting his fuming wife as she started to try and retort about the new products.

“He spends about 3 days a week here, he’s a hit with the women and teenagers. He’s great with ideas too. Nearly half of our new products are patented to him.” George replied, he knew that that would annoy Hermione even more.

“What’s he up to? We don’t see much of him these days.” Ronald asked, one of his hands clamped down on Hermione’s leg to keep her silent.

“Not much, he’s actually studying to get certifications in Muggle subjects, more for something to do really.” George replied, internally smirking at how irritated Hermione was.

“Muggle subjects?” She burst out, unable to keep silent any more.

“Well yeah, the Department of Education employs someone, a young Muggleborn I think, who gets hold of the materials needed for the subjects you want to do and then later arranges for you to sit the exams. I studied Chemistry, Physics and Electronics and they’re helping with some projects I’ve got going on.” George replied and he could see Hermione fuming again, probably that she couldn’t protest that she’d be better for the job as the other person was a Muggleborn too.

“Blimey, that’s crazy. So he must miss Harry then, if he’s doing extra studying that is.” Ronald said,, with all the subtlety of a freight train with introducing the topic of Harry.

“Maybe, he never really mentions Harry when he’s here.” George decided it was time to shut down that line of conversation. He could see the disappointment in Ronald’s eyes. The couple stayed for an extra twenty minutes, talking about inconsequential things and finally they stood to leave.

Before they could leave the store, George stopped them.

“Wait here, I think there’s something that Rosie here would like.” He grinned, dashing off to pick up one of their recent products.

“It’s a charmed doll’s tea set, one of you needs to tap the teapot and then the drinks that you’re happy with her using with it with your wand while saying ‘connectus’. She’ll then be able to have a dolls tea party without you needing to fill it for her.” He explained, passing the box to his awestruck niece.

“What do you say Rose?” Hermione asked through gritted teeth, she’d tried to create her own tea set but each attempt would use any liquid in the house making it dangerous with cleaning products and alcohol.

“Thank you Uncle George.” Rose said quietly, she was very shy and George knew that her parents didn’t help matters. Once the couple had gone, George let Lee (who was on the till) know that he’d given Rose a tea set so it was accounted for. He then ran back to his workroom and sent a patronus to Sirius and Kingsley, he needed to warn them that Molly, Ronald, Ginny and Hermione were asking about Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I know I'm switching between 'Ron' and 'Ronald', this is depending on which character's perspective it is. For me, Molly, Hermione, Ginny and Ronald himself would all nickname to refer to him.  
> Also, in my head, Rose doesn't actually have a phobia of spiders per say, she's more scared because her dad has told her tthey're something to be scared of and children are impressionable.  
> Thanks to everyone who left Kudos and comments on the last chapter. Next one up next Thursday!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Q have their promised lunch date and someone from Q's past makes an unexpected reappearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so there's some Italian in this chapter. Unfortunately, I don't actully speak Italian so I had to use an online translator. If it's incorrect then I'm sorry and I'd be more than happy to correct it if an Italian speaker gives me the correct phrasing. I've included the translations at the bottom.  
> There's a few OCs here, one of them is definitely going to make a reappearance as she's probably one of my favourite OCs that I've written.  
> I've also got a headcanon about where Godric's Hollow is located. I'm not on Pottermore or anything but the Wiki said that it's in the West Country. The wiki also indicted that the West Country also include Gloucestershire. So in my head, Godric's Hollow is just on inside the Gloucestershire-Wales border. Knowing Lily, she'd have insisted on Harry being born in a hospital and I thought it might be fun if she wanted a Muggle one instead of St. Mungo's.  
> As for Harry's grandfather being Welsh, the surname 'Evans' is a common Welsh surname (it's actually the 4th most common and more common than my own). It's not unreasonable that a Welshman moved away from Wales, my own grandfather did. So I thought it made sense.  
> I don't own HP or James Bond, all I own is this plot.  
> I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who gave me Kudos and commented on this story so far.  
> There won't be a chater next week as I'm moving out next Friday so I'll be packing but there will be one the week after.

* * *

 

By the time James made his way down to Q branch, 002’s mission had gone tits up. His cover had been blown and he was currently making his way through the streets of Tokyo on a moped.

“No 002, turn left, left! Oh for the love of, take the next left and I can guide you to the evac. Finally, if you’d listened to me before, then it would have been easier but you’re back on track.” Q said in clipped tones.

“ _Oh, fuck off Q. If you’re so clever then why aren’t_ **_you_ ** _doing my job?_ ” 002 snarled though the headset and James sighed. 002 was always an arse when he didn’t need to be. James saw M standing in the corner, looking annoyed and the agent joined his boss.

“Sir.” He nodded.

“Bond.” M said in return.

“Observing the mission sir?” James asked although he suspected that there was another reason.

“I’ve had complaints about 002’s attitude so I thought I’d see how he treats the support staff. I’m not impressed.” M said, a slight smile at James. They’d had a rough start but they had similar dry and sarcastic senses of humour and that soon smoothed over any wrinkles.

“If I may sir, he’s an arse. He treats everyone the same as the support staff. I’m surprised that he passed his psyche eval. If he were made to take another, and if the psychologists saw tapes of his mission behaviour, he wouldn’t be passed again.” James said honestly and he could see that M appreciated it.

“I’ll make a note of it. Any reason you’re here Bond?” M asked.

“Well, I was hoping to take Q to lunch but I suspect that’s not going to happen.” James replied honestly.

“Hmm, Q better not be just a conquest Bond.” M said sternly, glancing at him.

“I’d rather he _wasn’t_ just a conquest sir, we had dinner last night and it gave me hope. If he asked me to take on an instructor’s position rather than going into the field, I would, in a heartbeat. Because people like Q come along only once in a blue moon.” James said firmly. M’s eyes widened just a touch, it was so slight that only someone with James’ training could have guessed but it was there.

“Well then, it seems like 002 is nearly at the evac point. Once he’s there, you should take Q for some food, although I’d have some sent here too for the others. There’s a budget for it, I’ll get Moneypenny to meet you at the exit to pass you the card.” M smiled.

“Of course, sir. I presume that Q knows of any food allergies.” James smiled back.

“That he does.” M responded. 002 was finally in the evac helicopter, swearing up a storm at Q, not knowing that M was listening in with a grave expression on his face.

Q was grateful when James insisted on taking him out for lunch, he loved his job but sometimes he really needed to get out of Q branch for a bit, especially when an agent treated him like shit.

The little cafe they went to was a nice little Italian place, and one that was vetted to deliver food to their workplace.

“God, I needed this.” Q said after they’d placed their food order.

“I can imagine, after that business call, but he’ll be taken to task for his attitude towards you. Gareth was there this morning and wasn’t impressed.” James smiled, taking Q’s hand and massaging it.

“Somehow I doubt that will go over well with him. Unless Gareth is planning on demoting him?” Q sighed, when James didn’t answer he glanced over. “Is he?” He asked, careful because you never knew who was listening and, as much as he desperately wanted to cast a privacy charm, he hadn’t fully explained his past to anyone at work.

“I did recommend that he be sent for another psych eval with the tapes of his recent business calls being evaluated too. Just because you’re younger than the other managers doesn’t mean that anyone should be allowed to treat you like that.” James said softly.

“I’ve proved myself to everyone else, the deal we were involved in saw to that. He’s just an arsehole.” Q replied with his own smile.

When their food arrived, the owner of the cafe brought it, an ancient Italian woman who told Q in very poor English with a strong Italian accent that he was ‘too thin’ and ‘needed to be fed up and if Giacomo brought him every day then Nonna Lucia would put some weight on his bones.’ If Q was honest, it left his head spinning a little bit and he glanced at James’ amused face. Once she’d bustled off, shouting orders to her son and daughter in Italian, James finally explained.

“Nonna Lucia likes to look after people. I first met her after my first deal, you know how hard they can be. I was feeling a little bit vulnerable and stopped in here to get out of the rain. Nonna sat me down with a coffee and then insisted I tell her what was wrong. Don’t worry, I told her that I’d had a hard time at work recently and nothing more. But she gave good advice. I actually spent my downtime from that deal here, learning to cook proper Italian food, and Nonna treated me as an extra member of the family. I opened up to her more during that week and told her about my childhood, and how my parents had died when I was young. She calls me Giacomo as it’s the Italian equivalent of James. I still get Christmas cards and invited for family dinners regularly.” James explained with a smile as they dug into their food.

Q was sure that the look on his face was one of bliss at that first bite.

“If your cooking is even half as good as this, you need to show me at some point. Everyone you’ve had food delivered for will adore you for this.” He said, before taking another big bite of his pasta. James grinned at him but neither spoke, settling into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their meal. Nonna looked over and seemed pleased with how they were enjoying their meal. As they finished, she bustled over with her daughter who whisked their plates away while Nonna put bowls of fresh gelato in front of them, despite their protests.

“No meal is complete without gelato.” She said firmly before bustling off once more. She soon returned, however, with coffees for them both, rich cappuccinos that made Q’s mouth water with just their scent alone.

“You never did tell you about your source.” Q said as they enjoyed their coffee and dessert. James laughed.

“I’d wondered if you’d forget about that. You were right though, it was Moneypenny, although Tanner was there too. He was _very_ eager about us dating.” James grinned and Q returned it.

“I _knew_ it was her! Although Tanner’s a bit of a surprise.” Q said triumphantly.

As they were leaving (James insisted on paying, again). Nonna pulled both of them into a fierce hug.

“Lo porti qui per cena, Giacomo, capisci?” She said fiercely to James. Q was still learning Italian so he only picked up a few words, mainly ‘dinner’ and ‘tonight’. James glanced at him before turning back to Nonna.

“Non abbiamo ancora pianificato Nonna, lo chiederò e ti farò sapere. Ma grazie per l'invito.” He replied smoothly in flawless Italian. Internally, Q’s mouth dropped. He had no idea that James could speak such flawless Italian. Had he not known that that man was British, Q might have been tempted to think that he was listening to two native Italian speakers talking. Nonna didn’t seem too happy but agreed.

On the walk back, during which James took Q’s hand and the dark haired man could hardly hold in his excitement, Q looked at James.

“Is there any language that gives you _any_ trouble?” He asked, his tone light and teasing. James grinned mischievously.

“Well, I haven’t mastered Welsh yet. And I have no clue how to talk to computers.” He grinned and Q chuckled.

“Seriously though, there has to be some language that gives you trouble.” Q said.

“Welsh, definitely Welsh. I thought that because I can speak passable Scottish Gaelic then I might be ok with it but, I was wrong. I can’t speak Chinese either, on a previous mission I ended up faced with a Chinese keyboard and I had to just leave it.” James replied shaking his head ruefully.

“Scottish Gaelic?”  Q queried and James nodded.

“I’m Scottish, remember? I started learning it when I was at uni, as a way of staying close to my father.” James replied.

“I may be able to help with the Welsh. My maternal grandfather was Welsh. I never met him, or knew my parents, but I wanted some connection to my mother and her family. I was also born in Wales.” Q said quietly, aware that he hadn’t told anyone this information before. His ex-‘friends’ had no idea that he was learning Welsh in his spare time, other Hogwarts students were helpful with that.

“I may take you up on that. It’s not particularly useful for work, but it’d be nice to say that I can speak the language.” James smiled, squeezing Q’s hand. Q smiled back in relief. There was a brief pause.

“So what did Nonna ask you?” Q finally asked.

“She wants me to take you back for dinner tonight, I have a feeling it’s a family one. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” James replied, watching Q for his reaction.

“No, we should go. If nothing else so you can prove to Nonna that we’re taking her advice about ‘feeding me up’ seriously.” Q said with a smile and reveled in the pleased look on James’ face.

“I’ll phone this afternoon while you’re working. It’ll probably be about 7 if that’s alright?” The agent asked as they entered the MI6 building once more.

“That will be fine, the only other missions are 006 who’s back enroute from Russia and 003 who’s on a simple surveillance mission on a tech company in Kyoto. Should be no issues there.” Q grinned.

* * *

 

As Q predicted, there were no major issues that cropped up needing his attention for once. 003 called in to ask some advice at about 4 and Q had an extra report to write about 002’s insubordination but, he had all his work done by 6:30, just as James came to collect him for dinner. R smiled and nodded at the two as they left, clearly happy that her boss was actually leaving the building at a normal time.

Nonna was thrilled to see them. Q actually felt a little bad that he hadn’t realised that James had had someone who cared so much for him before now. THe man in question caught his expression.

“Hey, no feeling bad. I know next to nothing about you.” He said softly as Nonna shooed them out the back to her family’s rooms.

There were a _lot_ of people there, more than you’d expect and, judging from James’ face, more than he’d anticipated either. Quite a lot of people greeted James with his Italian name but Q wasn’t looking at any of them. No, he was looking at someone from his past, the last person he’d have expected to see there, Blaise Zabini. Worse, they’d met eyes and Q knew he’d been recognised.

“I think you’re about to find out something from my past.” He said quietly as the dark haired, former Slytherin made his way over.

“I never expected to see you here Potter, especially with Giacomo, but it _is_ good to see you!” He said as he finally reached them, smiling warmly. Q knew that James had caught the name, heck, most people in the room caught it. Including Nonna who had just entered the room. She made her way over to the small group, gesturing to the rest of the family to stay away although a small girl, of about five or so was clearly desperate to come over.

“Blaise? È questo il giovane che ci stava dicendo, chi è scomparso?” She asked Blaise, eyeing Q curiously.

“Sì, Nonna, non sono sicuro di quanto tempo sia stato nella zona, ma era decisamente giustificato nel lasciare.” Blaise nodded and James looked at Q, intrigued by this mystery. Nonna turned to the nervous young man.

“Well then, Salvatore, you are always welcome here, sì?” Nonna smiled at him, pulling Q into a bear hug. For such an old woman, Nonna’s grip was powerful. She bustled off after she finally let Q go, leaving him and James with Blaise.

“Nonna is always like that, she enjoys having a big family.” James grinned at the confused Q.

“She really does, Nonna is the only person I know who could stand up to my mother, she didn’t need magic to scare the crap out of her.” Blaise laughed.

“Oh?” Q asked, his innate curiosity flaring up but he didn’t want to actually ask about it.

“My father was a first-generation, mother seduced him in her final year at l'Accademia di Magia di Santorini and fell pregnant with my older sister, Isabella. It caused quite the scandal, especially as he offered to do the honorable thing and break off his engagement with another woman to marry my mother. In the end it took her father forcing her to accept. Mother hated my father by the end of their marriage, I was born about six months before he died, and mother ended up leaving me with Isabella and the house elves while she started prowling for a new husband. Nonna and my sister are the only stable influences in my life that I can remember.” Blaise explained and something in Harry broke to hear the sadness that he’d suffered.

“I had no idea, maybe if I had actually paid attention at school....” Q said softly and Blaise shook himself out of his memories.

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to know. But it’s worked out, Isabella is happily married with four children and I have a daughter of my own, although her mother is no longer in the picture.” At Blaise’s gesture, the little girl from before came over and hugged his legs, shy of the stranger. “This is my Elizabetta. Her mother left four years ago, I think she’s somewhere in Peru from her last letter, trying to ‘find herself’. But I can’t hate her, not when she gave me something so precious.” Blaise smiled, picking up the little girl. Her skin was the same rich coffee colour as Blaise’s own, and her hair was the same black but long and silky. Her eyes were a deep crystal blue. Q thought she looked adorable, especially when she snuggled deeper into her father’s arms. Q wondered how a mother could abandon her child.

Dinner was pleasant, Q ended up sat between James and Blaise and opposite some of Blaise’s cousins. The conversation flowed (although it was hard to follow when they lapsed into Italian) and the food was good. But what Q enjoyed most was the feeling of family. He might have mended fences with his family, and they occasionally invited him for Sunday Lunch (normally during important holidays when the neighbors would have expected it) but he honestly hated seeing most of them. It was only his cousin, out of his remaining relatives, that he enjoyed seeing and the two got together every couple of months for a few beers to catch up.

Nonna’s family, all of them, made him feel so welcome and _wanted_ that he couldn’t help but feel happy.

* * *

 

 

James knew that something about Q was different when he first met him, there was something almost ethereal about the younger man. But he hadn’t expected it to be _magic_! He’d found out years earlier, at another family dinner so similar to this one when the entire family was helping to support Blaise after his wife had left him with their young daughter. Isabella’s middle child, a very strong willed boy she’d named ‘Carmine’ after her father, had thrown a tantrum over being asked to eat mushrooms (the boy still didn’t like them very much). All of a sudden they’d literally vanished from his plate only to reappear on his uncle’s. The family had to let him in on the secret then and it brought back stories about a great Aunt of his. He hadn’t seen her in years but his grandmother swore that her elder sister could do real magic to the young boy. These stories remained, only half remembered after her death shortly after his sixth birthday, until now.

James had nothing against magic at all, none of the magical members of Nonna’s family had ever done anything to hurt him so why should he freak out over a quirk of nature? Finding out that Q had magic too, or at the very least knew about it, was therefore unexpected but not unwelcome. Throughout dinner, he watched Q who he could tell was nervous that James knew such a big secret about him and James resolved to reassure him as he drove the younger man home that night. Clearly someone in his past had rejected him for having magic and, if James ever found out who that moron was, he’d make them regret it.

* * *

 

 

After dinner, Nonna’s eldest daughter, Carmela,  pressed a package into Q’s hands.

“Giacomo has told us of your love for tea. I baked these this morning, please take them to enjoy with your tea, Salvatore.” She smiled as Q tried to refuse politely. She was far more stubborn than him, and so Q ended up with the package anyway, shrunk by Blaise to fit in his pocket as he was leaving at the same time as them, his daughter was spending the night at her grandmother’s as Blaise had to be at work early in the morning.

The three men walked together for a while, chatting about various, inconsequential things. So, when the attack came, it was unexpected.

The first that Q knew of their attackers was when James when down beside him, a flash of red connecting. Q pulled out his wand, he might not have used it often but habit meant that he kept it on him constantly. After pulling up a shield charm, he let loose a barrage of spells designed to disorientate and incapacitate his attackers without causing any major damage. Blaise joined him, throwing up a spell to knock out any cameras in the local area. A well-placed _Expelliarmus_ from Q removed one of them from the fight, shorter than the rest and they hid behind the tall and lanky figure of another one. James, by this time had woken up and was ready to join in the fight.

“Back in a moment.” He said quietly and slipped off into the shadows. He managed to wrestle the lanky one to the ground, and take his wand away, throwing it to Q and Blaise.

This resistance was too much for their attackers and all four apparated away, leaving behind two wands. With James being the only Muggle on the scene, and he was registered with the Ministry as being ‘In the know’, aurors had nothing to do except collect the wands and their statements.

“You two go get yourselves checked out. I’ll contact the Minister about this, he’ll probably want to know.” Blaise insisted.

“It might be worth suggesting that he sets up a meeting with our boss. I’ll leave a message with him tonight and we can organise it tomorrow.” James said firmly before he swept Q back to where he’d parked his car.

Once they were alone, Q’s nerves were starting to get the better of him. He didn’t know how long it would take James to reject him for his magic, just like his relatives did all those years ago. When James finally spoke, it wasn’t what Q expected.

“So, magic huh?” He asked with a quick grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Giacomo = James: http://www.conigliofamily.com/SicilianAndItalianGivenNames.htm
> 
> Lo porti qui per cena, Giacomo, capisci? = You bring him back here for dinner tonight, James, do you understand?
> 
> Non abbiamo ancora pianificato Nonna, lo chiederò e ti farò sapere. Ma grazie per l'invito. = We haven’t made plans for tonight yet Nonna, but I’ll ask him and let you know. Thank you for the invitation though.
> 
> Blaise? È questo il giovane che ci stava dicendo, chi è scomparso? = Blaise? Is this the young man you were telling us about, the one who disappeared?
> 
> Sì, Nonna, non sono sicuro di quanto tempo sia stato nella zona, ma era decisamente giustificato nel lasciare. = Yes Nonna, I’m not sure how long he’s been in the area, but he was definitely justified in leaving.
> 
> l'Accademia di Magia di Santorini = the Santorini Academy of Magic


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the attempted abduction and Q tells James and M about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry again that there was no chapter last week. I was moving out the next day and so was spending my time packing things up. (SO many boxes!!!)  
> But, I'm all moved out now so usual service will be resumed.  
> Thanks to eveyone who's given me Kudos :-)  
> I don't own Harry Potter or James Bond, all I own is this plot.

Q was grateful for James’ presence in M’s office as they were briefing him on the events of the past evening. Explaining to your boss that not only had someone attempted to abduct you but that they had advantages that most people had no clue about was no easy thing. Luckily, James seemed to already know about magic so, when he’d spoken to Q about it the night before, he’d been able to give a very brief run down of his past. But now, Q knew that it would have to be the full story.

“Sir, before we have this conversation, could we upgrade 007’s clearance level? As he was involved yesterday, he needs to hear the full story but your predecessor put it at the highest clearance level.” Q said, causing M to raise one of his eyebrows.

The man paused for a moment, to think about it before he nodded. It took the work of a few moments on his laptop, before M turned to look at Q. The dark haired boffin internally sighed, knowing that he’d likely have The Dream again tonight.

“I’m sure you’ve seen, sir, that my name is listed as ‘Quentin Evans’ however, that is not what I was named at birth. I was born in July 1980 to Lily and James Potter, who named me Harry James Potter.” Q started, nerves flooding him.

“Lily and James Potter, I know their names...weren’t they murdered by a terrorist in ‘81?” M asked, interrupting Q’s story. Q nodded.

“Yes, I was the only survivor of the attack and was sent to live with my mother’s sister, Petunia Dursley. Things weren’t great for me there, Aunt Petunia had her own son and I think resented the extra burden along with other things.

“Whatever the cause, I knew that I was very much unwanted. At the age of eleven I received an invitation to an elite boarding school that my parents had also attended. While there, I made some good friends, and some not so good ones, as well as having many adventures. In the end, after I ended up saving the arses of all the adults around me, my ‘friends’ expected me to marry one of them.” Q paused, he knew that he was being concise with the facts but he wanted to give M a basic grounding before dropping the magic bombshell on him.

“Sir, there’s a whole society running behind this one, one where all involved have a secret. There is some crossover but, for the most part, they like to stay hidden. I was born into this society but after the incident with my so-called friends, I left.

“Sir, do you believe in magic?” Q’s face was sincere but concerned.

* * *

 

 

M wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but the existence of magic wasn’t it. That Q had not only been a member of this secret society but also had left after being expected to give more even after all he’d already suffered. He’d started to see Q almost as the son he and his wife had never been able to have (a miscarriage caused by a car accident shortly after finding out that she was pregnant had caused so much damage that she was unable to conceive again) so the attitudes of some in this society infuriated the chief of MI6.

Briefly, he remembered an old family story about a distant cousin of his father’s who’d sworn that he’d been bewitched and put under some spell by a local girl that caused her to run away with him. M’s side of the family had all thought it was complete bollocks, but maybe there was some truth in it, magic would certainly help explain how the cousin and his parents all died suddenly with no sign of poisoning or any other cause of death.

“I’ve never really believed in it, but I’m assuming that it has something to do with this secret society?” M said carefully. Q nodded and M was suddenly struck by how the younger man had never really spoken of his past or himself.

“The people responsible for the attack are magical, and a family group. They’re the ones who were most insistent that I marry the daughter. An outside connection of 007’s revealed a link to someone in my past that I hadn’t seen in years. Blaise Zabini actually assisted in foiling the attack and is alerting the person in charge of the magical society in order to set up a meeting.” Q explained looking pensive.

“An outside connection?” M asked.

“ _Nonna Lucia’s Ristorante_ , the owner seems to have adopted me into her family, and I think she’s likely to do the same for Q.” James explained with a smile and M laughed.

“It might do you good Bond, to have a formidable Italian grandmother watching out for your health. It’s one of the approved places isn’t it?” The older man asked.

“Yes sir, lunch for Q branch was delivered from there.” Q replied with a smile.

“Lucia Zabini and her family, spent some time during the second world war hiding in rural Italy because they were anti-fascist. Her brother was even executed for passing information to SOE operatives and Luia continued to do so as best she could while hiding her family. Her eldest son was only four at the time but figured it out, she never speaks of what she was doing in the war.” James elaborated and Q’s esteem for the old woman increased.

“If we set up the meeting at the restaurant, Lucia Zabini has show that she can be trusted to keep secrets so there should be no issue on that end.” M said musingly and Q nodded.

“Lunch meeting?” He asked, pulling out his phone and M nodded.

“Yes, I must ask that you and Bond are there too. This meeting will affect you, and I’d rather you had some sort of protection. Bond should be more than enough, especially as they’ve fought him before.” M replied.

“Of course, sir. I’ll arrange to have food delivered for Q branch at the same time, I doubt they’ll stop for food if I don’t. _Nonna Lucia’s_ is fast becoming a favourite with them.” Q said, tapping on his phone for a minute.

“Excellent. Now, until we have a confirmation about the meeting, why don’t you tell us about your school adventures Q?” M smiled. Q’s face instantly became apprehensive and his boss felt a little bad for asking about something that Q was clearly reluctant to speak about.

“Yes sir.” Q said finally.

* * *

 

 

Q wasn’t sure how stable his relationship with James was, but he dreaded the idea that his past would put the man off.

“As I said, my parents were murdered when I was still a baby. Throughout the seventies and eighties, a man began amassing followers in order to take power. His use of Dark magic led to people calling him ‘The Dark Lord’ while he referred to himself as ‘Lord Voldemort’ to hide his true origins. He was born in 1926 to a witch who seduced his non-magical father with a love potion. She died in childbirth but named him after his father and hers. Years later, he murdered his father and paternal grandparents while framing his maternal uncle in revenge for his family abandoning him.

“By 1980, the entire Magical society was terrified of him except for a select group of people. The Order of the Phoenix was founded to fight against Voldemort, and my parents were members as were their friends. Later that year, shortly before my birth, a prophecy was made that a child who was destined to defeat Voldemort would be born.

“Voldemort found out about the prophecy and targeted my family. My father tried to buy my mother some time to escape but she was unable to and gave her life trying to protect me. Their selfless actions enacted a very old Magic so that, when Voldemort tried to uses the Killing Curse on me, it rebounded on him, temporarily defeating him.

“The Headmaster of my old school, and the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, placed me with my aunt, leaving me on the doorstep with a letter. Because she was reluctant to take care of me, my childhood wasn’t particularly pleasant, especially when I had outbursts of accidental magic though the snake and the roof incidents were the worst.” Q paused, taking a sip of the tea that had been brought in at the start of their meeting.

“Could you explain what happened?” M asked gently, and Q’s face heated up.

“I didn’t have a very good relationship with my cousin growing up and one day he was chasing me with his gang of friends. Somehow I managed to transport myself onto the school roof. As for the snake, I can speak to them and for one of Dudley’s birthdays, he wanted to go to the zoo. My aunt and uncle had to take me with them and I started speaking to a snake in the reptile house. Dudley pushed me out the way and accidentally knocked me over. While I was on the floor, I accidentally vanished the glass releasing the snake who nipped at his heels. My relationship with Dudley’s much better now, he was a kid back then and has apologised for how he acted.” Q explained. James started laughing when Q mentioned accidentally setting a snake on his cousin.

“When I first went to school, everyone stared at me. Because I’m the only person to survive the Killing curse, I became known as the Boy-Who-Lived so I was pretty famous amongst the magical community. Over the course of the year, my ex-friends and I discovered that there was a special artifact hidden in the school and that a teacher was planning on stealing it. But when we went to our Head of House, she wouldn’t listen to us so we went after it ourselves. The teacher who was trying to steal the stone attacked me but the protection from my parents kicked in.

“Second year, someone sent a cursed diary to the school by slipping it into the belongings of the girl that my ex-friends want me to marry. The diary possessed her and forced her to release a very dangerous animal, a snake, into the school. I fought the snake and killed it before destroying the diary. Again, the adults were a bit useless when it came to helping.

“My godfather had been illegally imprisoned when I was a baby and escaped just before my third year to protect me. Unfortunately, everyone assumed that he wanted to harm me so they placed the most foul creatures you could ever think of around the school to ‘protect’ us. Those creatures guard the Magical prison, and the magical government placed them around the school. My honorary godfather was brought in to teach so I was at least able to find out more about my parents as nobody else thought to tell me about them. Remus was a werewolf and there was an accident where my ex-friends and I were outside when he was transforming. Luckily, we were able to get away thanks to my godfather and another teacher. But the magical government wouldn’t listen when we tried to explain that Sirius wasn’t a danger. They tried to execute him so I ended up rescuing him with one of my ex-friends.” Q paused again to drink some more tea, grimacing when he found it to be colder than he expected. Neither M nor James said anything, waiting for him to continue to tell his story.

“The next year, two other magical schools sent representatives to compete in a dangerous competition. Only of-age pupils were allowed to compete but someone entered my name and I was forced to compete by a binding magical contract. The first task, we had to get past nesting dragons to get a golden egg from their nest. Looking back, I’m lucky that I wasn’t killed. For the second task, we had to rescue a hostage from the bottom of the shcool lake. I ended up rescuing another competitor’s hostage as she was unable to.

“The final task was a maze, with the first person to touch the trophy being the winner. But Voldemort was behind my being entered into the competition and the trophy had been turned into a magical transportation device. Myself and another competitor were taken away where I was forced to watch him murdered before a ritual was performed to bring Voldemort back to full strength.

“Over the next summer, the Headmaster tried to tell the government but no one wanted to believe him. A government official sent one of the creatures that were used in my third year after me, I’m not sure if she wanted me dead or not but when I drove it off with magic, the government put me on trial. Luckily it was proved that I was justified in using the spell. But the woman who’d sent them after me was placed in the school. She spent the year torturing pupils and trying to restrict our education. Over that year, I’d been forced to witness visions of what Voldemort was getting up to. The final one he sent me, he tried to convince me that he had my godfather hostage at the governmental building. I went to rescue him with my ex-friends and my actual friends. It was a trap as Voldemort wanted to force me to retrieve the prophecy so he could listen to it in full. My honorary godfather, Remus, died when the Order of the Phoenix came to rescue us. The only upside was that Sirius was exonerated but I still had to stay with my aunt and uncle.

“The next year, the headmaster finally explained why Voldemort was after me and began giving me ‘lessons’ to help me defeat him. All I really learnt was that Voldemort had a shitty childhood, and became a shitty person. He created artifacts to keep himself alive and the headmaster took me with him to find one, having destroyed one himself. The diary from my second year was another. Voldemort had tasked someone with killing the headmaster and, at the end of the year, he was killed.” Q paused to gather himself once more and James took Q’s hand, silently providing comfort. M stood and opened the door, asking Eve if she would get another pot of tea delivered. Eve brought it in herself, along with a pack of biscuits. She didn’t know what they were talking about, but she could see that Q was upset. She smiled at him and gave him a quick hug, cheering up the dark haired man. Once she’d left, Q took a deep breath and started the rest of his story.

“For what should have been my final year of school, my two ex-friends and I were essentially on the run. Voldemort had taken over the magical government so we were being hunted down. During that time, we searched for the artifacts keeping Voldemort alive and destroyed them. By the time of the final battle, there were only two left: Voldemort’s snake and one other that we didn’t know about. It came out during the battle that the final one was me. I allowed myself to be hit by the killing curse, knowing that it wouldn’t rebound this time. But instead of dying, it just destroyed what was keeping Voldemort alive so I was able to fight him and finally end it.

“There’s not much more to my story now, I was able to live with my godfather as I no longer needed protecting from Voldemort, and I returned to school to complete my education. At the same time I started catching up on what I should have learned if I had gone to a non-magical school. Once I graduated, I carried on with that and eventually got into Oxford where I studied electronic engineering and mathematics but that’s in my file anyway. It was just before I started at Oxford that I fell out with my ex-friends over the issue of my marrying this particular girl. Even coming out as gay didn’t change anything to them.

“When I was approached at Oxford about joining Q branch, I knew that it was my chance to escape from them. I changed my name, coordinated with the Minister for Magic who’s a personal friend to make it seem as if ‘Harry Potter’ had left the country and reconnected with my remaining family. I still speak to my godfather but I haven’t revealed where I am and what I’m doing so he can’t be forced to tell anyone.” Q finished, before taking a sip of the fresh tea and avoiding looking at James and M.

* * *

 

The two men looked at each other, both clearly furious about the failures of those in charge in the Magical community, although the new Minister for Magic seemed to be competent at least. Q’s phone beeped, garnering his attention for a while and allowing the other two men to reign in their fury.

“Kingsley’s agreed to the meeting at 1pm, he’s bringing my godfather and Blaise Zabini with him.” Q said, his voice flat and unemotional, as if he was trying to avoid any hurt from the other two.

“Excellent, take it easy until we need to leave Q. Bond, stay with him.” M said and James nodded while Q stood.

“Yes sir.” The dark haired man was still unemotional although he started slightly when James put his hand on the small of Q’s back.

Down in Q branch, James got Q installed in his office with a cup of his favourite tea before sitting next to the man.

“Q? Are you alright?” He asked softly.

“You don’t have to act concerned James, finding out that someone you’re seeing has magic can be off-putting to the most understanding person.” Q said quietly. James put his arm around Q and pulled him into his side.

“Q, I hate to break it to you but there’s been the rumours of magic in my family for years. I think a paternal great-aunt might have magic but I didn’t see her often enough as a child to find out and I haven’t seen her since I was ten. And M didn’t seem surprised by the idea of magic either. The way I see it, you have an extra advantage which will let you protect yourself. It doesn’t make a difference to me, I still want to see where this relationship is going and continue seeing you.” James said, placing a kiss to Q’s temple. He felt the dark haired man relax against him.

“Thank you.” he said, still quietly but with emotion clouding his voice finally.

The only time anyone disturbed them was when Q’s assistant brought in fresh tea for them. Finally, the time for them to leave arrived and M met them by the doors. Nothing was said as they walked, even though James had a firm hold of Q’s hand. M merely raised an amused eyebrow and smiled at the pair.

Nonna was overjoyed to see them again.

“Ah, Giovanni, you bring him back again, and a friend.” She smiled as they walked in the door. When she found out that they had a meeting with her grandson and other members of the magical community, she nodded and got her daughter to lead them to a large function room in the basement of the building.

“This place should be secure enough for your meeting. Mama is preparing food for you all. I’ll handle the delivery food myself.” Maria smiled, putting drinks for them on the table. They were soon joined by Blaise, Kingsley, Sirius and, to Q’s surprise and happiness, George Weasley. James felt no jealousy when hugged the tall redhead as he’d called his partner ‘little brother’. He was smiling while watching them when he felt someone sidle up to him.

“So my godson tells me that you’re pursuing him romantically. As his father isn’t here to do it, I have to tell you that, if you hurt him, no one will find your body.” Sirius Black said, and James knew that he wasn’t joking.

“Trust me, I would sooner kill myself than hurt him. Plus, my great-aunt Minerva told me when I was younger to be a gentleman towards my partner in life.” James replied. Sirius started.

“Minerva? Is her surname McGonagall by any chance?” He asked, looking at James intently.

“Yes, I believe it is. From what I remember, her paternal grandmother was a Bond.” He nodded.

“Huh, wouldn’t have guessed. But my warning still stands. I may not have been able to protect him as much as I wanted to, but I will always do my best.” The other man repeated.

“Honestly, I felt drawn to Q from the moment I met him. You obviously know what I do, Q doesn’t know it yet but I recently changed my paperwork meaning I won’t be sent on any more honeypot missions. I never even considered doing that until I met him and he agreed to allow me to take him on a date.” James sighed. Sirius looked slightly stunned.

“Ask if he’ll cast _Magicae Revelus_ on you later.” Sirius said, still looking surprised.

Nonna came into the room, with Maria and another of her children, each one carrying plates of food.

“Sit, sit. You all eat!” Nonna said, pushing Sirius and Kingsley to the table as they were the most reluctant.

“You need anything, Blaise knows how to let us know.” She continued before leaving and taking her two children with her.

Nothing was said for a few moments as they sat down and served themselves food but soon Kingsley broached the topic of why they were here.

“I was actually going to contact Harry. George overheard two of the ones involved in the attack discussing finding him and came to me concerned.” He said, launching right into the discussion.

Over the next two hours, many strategies were discussed, with Kingsley promising that his first priority would be to arrest all of the ones involved. Sirius was offered and accepted a position at MI6.

“I’m a bit bored anyway and this will allow me to be closer to you pup.” He explained to Q when the younger man asked.

Much later, down in Q branch, Eve cornered Q.

“Sirius Black, what’s his deal?” She asked.

“Deal?” Q questioned.

“Yeah, is he married, single, gay, straight, none of the above?” She elaborated and dawning rose in Q, his friend was interested in his godfather.

“He’s single and interested in women. He’s my godfather but has never found the right person for him. Don’t hint about your interest, he can be a bit oblivious about that sort of thing.” Q grinned. Eve hugged him.

“Thanks, when whatever issue that has all of you on edge is over, we’ll have to go for a drink.” She grinned back, nodding at James as she swept out.

Two days later, Q and James heard from one of the Q branch minions that Eve had cornered Sirius and bluntly asked him if he was ever going to ask her on a date. Money exchanged hands as the betting pool for the latest couple was completed. Over all, Sirius’ relationship with Eve didn’t affect the working of MI6 that much, just that he was a more frequent visitor to that area of the building than most people.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione, Ronald, Ginny and Molly make another kidnapping attempt which doesn't go according to plan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to post a new chapter. RL has majorly gotten in the way!!! I've not forgotten about it, I promise! I've gone back and edited the previous chapter, I was rereading over it to help with this chapter and I found that I'd made a couple of mistakes. I'll write and get the new chapter up asap. Thank you for your patience.

_ I don’t own Harry Potter or James Bond, all I own is this plot. _

 

Hermione was sat casually feeding Hugo while Rose ate her lunch under Molly’s watchful eye. It had taken some getting used to, allowing Molly so much supervision time over her daughter, but as Hugo’s birth had drawn closer and closer, Hermione found that she needed the help. On top of that was the fact that she didn’t feel all that connected to Rose. The one time Hermione had seen her parents after having either of her children, her mother had suggested that she see a doctor or healer, believing that the brunette witch had post-natal depression. Hermione had poo pooed the idea, trying to claim that she was just tired. But her mother hadn’t bought it, Hermione could tell. She never met up with her parents again although she did send a picture of Hugo when he was born.

She smiled at the suckling baby in her arms, he might have her wild hair but she thought that he was the perfect mix of her and Ron. From the moment she held him and looked into his baby blue eyes that eventually darkened to her deep brown, she felt this connection with him and immediately placed a kiss on the tufts of reddish hair on his head. Rose, by contrast, seemed like she skipped most of Hermione’s genes. Her deep burgundy hair curled gently into ringlets and her eyes had stayed the same blue as when she was born. Maybe that was why she didn’t feel all that connected to her, Rose wasn’t enough like her.

Molly’s voice startled the younger witch out of her reverie.

“Hmm?” Hermione asked non-verbally.

“I asked about Ron’s work, we never got his wand back from that damn Muggle.” Molly sighed, roughly wiping Rose’ face as the child had finished her meal.

“He took mine for now, it works well enough for him to use it this morning and on his break, he’s going to Ollivander’s to get a replacement. We can’t really afford it but, I don’t think we’ll get his original back any time soon.” Hermione sighed back, shaking her head lightly.

“Mummy, what’s a ‘dammuggle’?” Rose asked, her head tilting curiously. Hermione felt anger rise within her at the child’s unwanted reminder that she existed.

“Not now Rose, go and play!” Molly said quickly, shooing the little girl out the back where she promptly started chasing after butterflies and giggling to herself. As her mother-in-law turned back to her, Hermione wondered if Molly had ever felt like that about Bill.

“We need an escape plan in case Harry sends the Ministry or worse, those muggles he works for, before we can marry him off to Ginny.” Molly said as she swished her wand to clear up the dishes. Hermione nodded.

“Ron and I talked about that last night. We’re planning on leaving Rose with one of the family, she’d slow us down. What do you plan on doing Molly?” Hermione asked, her eyes never leaving her son.

“Ginny and I are ‘going to stay with Aunt Muriel’, or at least that’s what Arthur will believe. We’ll really be at Oakley House instead.” Molly replied and, although Hermione didn’t see her expression, the older woman smiled at the obvious bond between mother and son.

Ginny swept down the stairs at that moment, she’d been fired from her job at the Ministry after it became clear that she was unable to stop trying to find Harry through the Ministry. The girl was determined that  _ she’d _ be the person to marry him and become Lady Potter, so determined in fact, that she was constantly wearing white dresses, so that she’d be ready to marry him in a moments notice.

“Why hasn’t he come to me Mum? Surely Harry knows that he needs to come find me by now.” Ginny whined. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she might agree that Harry needed to marry Ginny but did the younger witch  _ have  _ to be so whiny?

“That muggle that was with him is probably stopping him darling, he’ll come, don’t worry.” Molly tried to soothe her pouting daughter but shared a glance with Hermione.

“Do you really think so mum?” Ginny asked, hope filling her eyes.

“Of course dear, why don’t you go and pack? We’ve got to go and stay in the house we got for the pair of you.” Molly said calmly and Ginny nodded before skipping, actually _skipping_ , upstairs.

“What can we do Molly? It’s obvious that he’s not going to come by himself.” Hermione asked, nibbling on her lower lip as she absently rocked Hugo’s tiny form.

“We’ll just have to get an old... _ acquaintance _ ...to help. Someone that Ron still sees regularly while he’s at work. A certain...sneak thief.” Molly said carefully and the light of understanding dawned in her daughter-in-law’s brown eyes.

“He’ll want paying you know, and it won’t be cheap.” Hermione whispered, a slow smile spreading across her face.

“There’s still money hidden in the safe at the house, enough to pay him to grab Potter and bring him to us. Probably even enough to...encourage...Potter to come on his own.” Molly reassured the concerned woman.

“If you’re sure then.” Hermione nodded before crooning a lullaby softly to Hugo.

* * *

 

Things had been going better than Q could possibly have thought with the given the concern over Molly and the others. It almost felt too good to be true. He and James had been growing closer and closer, Eve kept teasing him about it, telling him that it was only a matter of time until the double-oh proposed. Q, of course, teased her right back about how smitten his godfather was with her. And it was true, the dog animagus spent almost more time with her than he did with anyone else, he’d even told her about the existence of magic. She’d taken it better than they would have expected given how Sirius told her, blurting it out over dinner one evening might not have been how Q (or anyone else he’d spoken to that knew the secret) would have done it but it worked for Eve and Sirius.

A knock at the door of his office pulled Q out of his reflections. James was stood waiting patiently by the door and Q remembered with a shock that it was their ‘date night’. Early on, the pair had agreed that whenever James was in the country (and as long as there were no major catastrophes) they would put aside one evening a week just for them.

“I’ll be 5 minutes James, I just need to save and close this down. I can brief R on our way out.” Q said, his eyes never leaving the screen. He didn’t need to look to know that James was watching him with a fond smile on his lips. After saving the report on the former 002’s attitude (requested by HR that morning to be sent the next day) and shutting down his laptop, Q stood, stretching as he did so. His back popped awkwardly and there was a brief flash of pain as the tension he hadn’t realised had built up was released. James didn’t say anything although Q knew that he’d heard the pop, instead he rubbed the back of Q’s neck gently, a silent admonishment against sitting too long in one place. He removed his hand before they reached R’s station and she turned to greet the pair, her eyes crinkling as she smiled at them. Only 005 was on mission at the moment and it was still in the reconnaissance stage so there weren’t any issues anticipated.

James directed Q to the car park and got him settled into the seat of his latest Aston with his bag in the boot.

“So, where’re we going tonight?” Q asked as they drove along near the river.

“Nonna’s, I thought it’d be nice to go there and then watch a movie at one of our places.” James grinned, flashing his gaze to the other man before returning it to the road. Q couldn’t help the smile at that thought, Nonna never failed to look after them when they went in, treating them like family. A nice meal and then a movie sounded perfect, just the thing.

In what seemed like no time at all, they were sat in a private little nook (it’d taken a lot of persuasion for Nonna to not insist on them joining the family meal) with their favourite foods. Nonna’s was quiet that night, only one other couple and a family of four eating there. Without warning, the front windows exploded inward and the other people ducked under their tables screaming as the razor sharp shards flew around them. James and Q both stood as the assailant made his way inwards.

The man, they could tell that much about his identity, was wearing a mask but the stench of an unwashed body gave Q more than some idea about who it was behind the mask.

“Potter, yer coming with me.” He said, pointing a none-too-clean wand at them, adding more pieces to the puzzle. James slowly reached to draw his gun but their assailant moved his wand to cover the agent.

“None of that.” He said, his voice rough before he turned back to Q. “C’mon Potter, there’s someone oo wants ter see yer.” He said, grabbing Q’s arm and trying to pull him towards the exit. Despite his dominant arm being used to pull him, Q threw a clumsy punch and scored a hit on the man’s chin, distracting him. Before he could recover, a loud CLANG sounded as Nonna bashed him over the head with a heavy iron skillet. The would-be kidnapper dropped like a sack of potatoes as Q pulled his arm from the man’s grasp.

“Call the office, we need backup.” James said as Nonna stood guard with her skillet. James pulled the man’s mask off, revealing Mundungus Fletcher’s features. As the call connected, Q swore at the confirmation that it was another attempt to get him.

* * *

 

Much, much later, Mundungus woke in one of the interrogation rooms. James had handcuffed his arms to the table while he was unconscious and now sat across from the captive Wizard, his face stony and cold. Although Mundungus wouldn’t know it, Q watched from behind a two-way mirror with Sirius and Eve stood by him, the pair offering silent support as he waited to get answers.

Judging by Mundungus’ expression, he had quite the headache from Nonna’s blow with the skillet. Mundungus tested his bonds seemingly without noticing anything other than the pain in his head and James patiently waited. Upon finding that he wasn’t getting out of the situation, panic set in in Mundungus’ features. James let him panic before clearing his throat. If anything, recognising James’ face from at the restaurant increased his panic.

“What is your name?” James asked, his voice as icy as his eyes. Q had already identified Mundungus but it was a useful question to see if the man was going to be honest with them. James had to repeat the question several more times before  Mundungus stopped panicking and replied.

“Remus Lupin. My friend Sirius Black sent me because Potter’s his godson and he upset my friend by running away from his responsibilities, there’s this girl he promised to marry and then he ran off and left her at the altar.” At the sneak thief’s words, Q and Eve had to hold Sirius back as rage burned in his face that the man was using his late friend’s name although a part of Q wanted to let his Godfather go just for Mundungus’ comments about how he’d supposedly ‘left’ Ginny at the altar. James kept his face impassive as he opened the file that had been sent over by the Ministry of Magic while Mundungus was unconscious.

“Let’s try that again shall we? What is your name?” James asked, allowing the file that showed Remus’ date of death to lay open on the table. Mundungus’ eyes widened as he saw that he’d been caught out and his mouth opened and closed several times, giving the impression of a drowning fish, before he closed his mouth and gulped.

He tried several more names, all of them of people who had died during the Final Battle. He maintained that Sirius was the one that sent him though. Finally, James radioed through asking for the dog animagus to join him. As Mundungus saw Sirius enter the room, he realised that his lies were unravelling, and panic set in once more.

“So, are you going to tell the truth now, Mundungus Fletcher?” James asked. Mundungus nodded, looking defeated.

“Ronald Weasley asked me to bring Potter to….” The man was unable to say a location and Sirius interrupted his attempts after a few moments.

“The location is under Fidelus isn’t it?” He asked and Mundungus nodded.

“Right, did Weasley tell you why he wanted you to take him there?” James asked, making a few notes. Mundungus nodded again.

“He wants Potter to marry his sister. I was to take him to...that place...and send a message so he knew I’d done it.” Mundungus seemed eager to let someone else take the fall for his actions.

“What did you get out of this? You never do anything for nothing.” Sirius asked suddenly, seemingly bothered by the out of character actions. Mundungus looked chagrined.

“Weasley knows something I did years ago and told me that he’d send an anonymous tip to the aurors and the person who’s house it was if I didn’t do as he asked.” He replied nervously, almost like he was hoping that they wouldn’t ask what he’d done.

“I’m assuming that it’s your thieving from Grimmauld Place that he was referring to. Fortunately for you, Borgin and Burke’s won’t sell anything bearing the Black crest without permission from the Head of the Black family. They keep a special supply of leprechaun gold on hand for if someone tries selling them something in your situation. I have little doubt that your creditors will already be out for your blood, avoid adding me to that list. Who else is involved?” Sirius asked, his face cold.

Fletcher gulped, but nodded, his shoulders slumped and his attitude compliant.

“There’s Weasley, ‘is mother, sister and wife, what’s-‘er-name, used ter be ‘Granger’. Far as I can tell, none of the rest of ‘is family know.” He said, his voice emotionless and broken.

James interrogated him for a while longer but it was clear that they’d gotten all the information he had. James and Sirius stood and were making their way to the exit when the sneak thief spoke up.

“Wait! Where’re yer goin’?” He asked in a panic and James looked at him coldly.

“You no longer have any information we need. People from your Ministry are here to take you for trial.” He replied, Sirius has already gone to rejoin Q and Eve and James was eager to get away from the stench of BO.

“What?! But I ‘elped yer!” Mundungus yelled.

“Yes, but you’ve also been helping people who wish to force my partner into a marriage he doesn’t want. I may not be able to do anything about the earlier portion of his life, but I  **_can_ ** and  **_will_ ** protect him now!” James growled before sweeping out of the room.

* * *

 

Kingsley groaned, massaging his aching temples. Trust Ronald and Hermione Weasley to still be a thorn in his side. He had no way to arrest the redhead without giving away the game, he’d try to escape as soon as he saw aurors. But he couldn’t leave the redhead to continue plotting against Harry. It was a catch-22 scenario, damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. A knock on the door of his office pulled him away from his dilemma for a moment.

“Yes?” He asked, feeling both slight irritation and relief that he had been pulled from his thoughts. Luna Lovegood, chief editor of  _ The Quibbler _ now that her father had retired, poked her head around the door.

“You know that there’s an easier way to solve your problem, right?” She asked and Kingsley raised an eyebrow. Luna always seemed to know things, perhaps she could help.

* * *

 

Ron puffed his chest out as he sat across from Looney Lovegood. She’d contacted him asking for an interview about Harry. The ditzy blonde was dutifully taking notes about how Ron and Hermione were the ones to really cause the death of Voldemort and that Harry owed them so needed to marry Ginny.  He, of course, hears the door of the door of the pub open and all the conversation stop but he ignores it. It’s not as important as getting the truth out.

He realises just how wrong he was when the magic dampening cuffs are slipped onto his wrist and he’s led away by aurors. He can only hope that his mum and wife were able to follow their plans, Harry would get him out of trouble once he’d married Ginny.

 

Hermione burst into the Burrow’s kitchen where Molly was babysitting Rose and Hugo. She glanced sharply at her daughter.

“Rose, go play with your grandfather, now!” She snapped and the little girl hurried out to the Shed.

“Molly, we have to go. Now! They’ve got Ron, they’ll be coming here soon.” She said quickly and Molly looked panicked.

“What, but how?” She asked, handing Hugo to his mother and grabbing the bags of their possessions and what they’d need for the marriage ritual from where they were hidden.

“Lovegood, the little bitch was working with the DMLE. She distracted Ron by asking for an interview and they managed to grab him.” The brunette snarled, anger flashing in her eyes. A similar expression crossed Molly’s.

“We’ll deal with her when we’ve got Harry. We need to get to Oakley House. Ginny’s already there getting it ready for her and Harry.” Molly said and the two women hurried out of the house to apparate away.

Kingsley and the aurors just missed them, Ron had confirmed that they were involved under veritaserum so a warrant was issued for their arrest, especially as he also revealed that Hermione was the Secret Keeper.

That Hermione and Molly Weasley would abandon little Rose was shocking, but what made it all the worse was that they had been attempting to raise her to share her parents’, aunt’s and grandmother’s beliefs. Arthur had volunteered to care for the little girl (after he’d been cleared with veritaserum, you could never be too careful after all) but that didn’t solve Kingsley’s problem. Finally, he figured that his only option was to warn Harry that Hermione, Molly and Ginny had so far escaped but that the aurors would be doing their best to apprehend them.

* * *

 

Luna’s visit to Q-Branch was something that had never crossed Q’s mind as a possibility before. But, he supposed, his sister was bound to visit at some point anyway. Her warning about the remaining conspirators was less welcome.

“I know that Kings is doing his best, but it’s just really frustrating that they’re still out there plotting to mess with me.” He sighed, running a hand through his messy curls that, according to Sirius were actually tamer than the one time his dad had tried to grow his hair out. The resultant afro wasn’t a good look for James Potter.

“I know, but look on the bright side, it means that I could come see you at work and it means that you can introduce me to your man.” Luna grinned and Q found himself grinning despite himself.

“That  _ is _ an upside. James has been wanting to meet more of the people who care about me, my sister is probably the place to start.” He replied and Luna’s happy smile was dazzling.

She and James got along famously, both of them had a tangible protective streak for Q as well as a mutual desire to make sure that he was happy. For the next month, she became a regular visitor and even the ex-002 was charmed by her (although that could be because he desperately wanted to seduce her, he let that idea go when she tasered him in the dick). Even with Molly, Hermione and Ginny still on the loose, Q was starting to feel like everything in his life was going right for once. Go figure that his Potter luck would kick in again.

He, James, Luna and Blaise were having lunch at Nonna’s and the conversation had just turned to Blaise’s new girlfriend when Q’s phone rang.

“Q here.” He said, his tone business-like.

“ _ Q! You and Bond need to get back, there’s been a fire connected to the fugitive Weasleys. None of the Weasley family are hurt, it was at your relatives house. Get back here now! _ ” M’s voice was more panicked than Q had ever heard it and he knew that the colour was draining from his face at his superior’s words. Nonna was understanding that something had come up, and Luna and Blaise insisted on joining him and James back to the office.

They were immediately escorted to Medical, causing Q’s worry to skyrocket.

“I’m so sorry Q, there was only one survivor.” M said, gesturing to one of the private rooms, usually reserved for unruly double ohs. Dudley was lying in the bed, bandages covering his left arm. He looked up as Q entered and the pain and confusion there caused something within Q to clench tightly. As he sat next to Dudley, he burst into tears, unable to help himself as he saw his cousin. Before James could react, Dudley had grabbed Q’s hand and was squeezing it tightly.

“Hey, it’s ok. You weren’t the one to set the fire, and you didn’t ask them to.” He said while his younger cousin cried.

“I could have asked for wards to be put up to prevent this though, but I thought that it would draw their attention sooner.” Q said through his tears and James felt an immense sense of sadness for his partner.

“All it would have done is force them to find another way.” Dudley pointed out, hugging his cousin. The pair was quiet for a few moments, before Dudley perked up.

“So does this mean you’ll finally introduce me to the guy you’ve been seeing?” He asked, slightly mischievously. Q stared at him, shocked.

“What? But how…?” He asked, in all their phone calls he’d never told Dudley that the person he was seeing was male.

“Hate to break it to you, cuz, but it was sorta obvious to me. I don’t care what gender you like, you’re still family.” Dudley smiled.


End file.
